FARMINGTON, Conn., Feb. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Utilities across the U.S. are beginning to turn to transformer technologies to improve distribution reliability and efficiency as well as customer service and operating costs. In addition, more intelligent transformers will play a key role in enabling other smart grid applications such as power quality monitoring, closed-loop volt/VAR control, improved outage detection, and theft reduction. The annual market for transformer monitoring hardware in the U.S. is expected to grow from $113 million in 2012 to more than $755 million in 2020. Leading the transformer monitoring market are grid giants ABB, Siemens, GE, Alstom Grid and Schneider Electric.

Paralleling the transformer monitoring market is the emergence of more reliable and smarter grids made possible by sensors. A massive increase in the demand for electricity, coupled with aging transmission systems has resulted in the need for a more reliable electricity grid.

Meanwhile, in the growing market for off-grid power systems, remote sensing applications are increasingly needed for self-containment in terms of power and performance for several months at a time. While off-grid remote sensing applications include river gauging stations, earthquake and tsunami monitoring sites, and weather stations, the primary end-use is in the oil and gas industry, which frequently pursues exploration and production in more remote environments.

The transformer monitoring market is slowly transitioning to more technologically advanced devices. The march towards a more orderly back-office to acquire, manage, route, and analyze data and alarm conditions will continue to increase the value of these devices as hardware prices slowly fall. Even as more advanced devices proliferate, the bulk of the market will still consist of digital relays and simple transformer monitors with basic functionality.

Transformer monitoring has traditionally been driven by a focus on asset management at the power transformer level. The spread of field area networks, the demand for edge grid data, and the time delay associated will create demand for monitors at the transformer level that will ramp up to exceed the traditional power transformer market by 2015.

This report covers the market for generator step-up and transmission transformers, which together are described as power transformers; distribution transformers, which depending on the focus of the analysis may be included as power transformers or broken out separately; and utility-owned vault, pad-, and pole-mount secondary transformers, which are referred to as secondary transformers. Grid giants profiled in this report include ABB, Siemens, GE, Alstom Grid, and Schneider Electric.

Reliable and efficient power transmission system is the key for countries to achieve energy security, economic development and mitigate climate change. Sensors can play a very important role in extracting optimum usage out of electric power assets and at the same time provide enhanced safety to personnel and cut down unplanned power outages.

Remote sensing systems, including light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for the oil and gas industry, as well as remote monitoring using telemetry for environmental applications, represent a growing market for off-grid power. Increasingly this power is being supplied by renewable energy and alternative sources, such as fuel cells and advanced batteries. Nearly 27,000 remote sensing systems based on renewable and alternative energy will be shipped annually by 2020.

This report examines the market for remote sensing systems using renewable or alternative energy, focusing on remote sensing, LIDAR, and SCADA systems. Market drivers and barriers for the use of renewable or alternative energy systems are detailed, along with specific factors at work in the oil and gas industry. Market forecasts for unit shipments and for revenues, segmented by application, are provided through 2020.

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